Qualifications for a Researcher?
" . . . a healthy inquisitiveness and a good nose for a
rat"
So said the doyen of modern tartan researchers the late Jamie
Scarlett MBE.
Despite the feeling that many may have, that we know everything
there is to know about tartans and Highland dress, that just isn't
the case and there are many areas where interested amateur
historians could help increase the knowledge bank and help the
Tartans Authority to further refine its records.
An excellent example of this has been the clutch of Irish
clan/family tartans that have been around for a couple of decades
at least. They all had one thing in common and that was that their
recorded provenance was a French publication called Clans Originaux
produced by J. Claude in Paris in 1880. Only one known copy of this
publication could be traced - to an American mill - and it was not
until 2003 that a copy of its contents page was obtained by the
Tartans Authority which showed that ...not one of the claimed Irish
tartans came from that publication. See the full report at Clans
Originaux. An exciting piece of detective work which paid
dividends!
There are many more puzzles out there just waiting for budding
(or full-fledged) historians or enthusiasts to get their teeth
into. If you have that healthy inquisitiveness and a good nose for
a rat as recommended by Jamie Scarlett, then let us know. Equally,
if you have a specialist knowledge of your clan tartans, share it
with us so that we can ensure that our records are as accurate as
possible. Drop us an e-mail at research@tartansauthority.com